People

Hey.

I was in a taxi heading home from the school where I work (I work in the office, no way I could teach this generation of criminals and hooligans, I'm sorry), and I was just watching all the people that we passed, the yards and houses, people going about their daily lives, just....going. Walking, moving, not still, just...in motion. Always in motion. I wondered how many of them lived their entire lives like that, in motion, on autopilot, without stopping for any meaningful consideration of where they were at, where they're going, and just how they could make their own lives better, or help to improve the life of someone they knew.

I was having this same discussion with my resident hippie/intellectual, a very good sistren of mine that did(surprise surprise), psychology as her major, and is now pursuing her second degree. I brought it up to her, and she said that she thought that maybe 45% of people live life, from birth till death on autopilot, going where society, their peers, their parents, their significant other or whoever tells them to go, maybe all the while believing that what they're doing is their own decision/intention. Of the other 55%, maybe 35%, iirc (...what, lazy this evening) only wake up due to some kind of crisis, such as the quarter life crisis (boy, did that reach me last year), the mid life crisis, or the old age crisis/arrival. The rest are intellectuals, hippies (such as her, god bless her), revolutionaries, or just thinkers in general that are aware and choose their own path, but usually end up suffering for it. We also included weedheads, but for today I'll chose to ignore that controversial grouping.

*ahem* Anyway.

So, according to our two person survey, there's only 15% of the earth's population with their eyes (physical and mental) open, the rest being sheep, for the most part, acting out an unthinking and unreasoning drama for the better part of their lives, from birth till death.

This makes me very sad.

I believe that free will is a God given right (yes, I also believe in God, but that's an arguement for another day, focus), and the least that we can do is exercise it, come what may. The thought of just....masses of people coasting from birth till death......just animated flesh, going through their paces, heads down, blinkers on, staring at the carrot to the complete denial of all else, what might exist, what might be possible, themselves. Just..........blind.

Sad.

These are people that never challenge the status quo, even mentally or just amongst their friends. They never look around and go 'Why is the world like this? Isn't there some way I can make this better? Why does everything have to be this messed up, can't we fix this?' They never look outside of the well rutted path that they're trodding, and see that if they just took a little bit more time, or showed just a smidge more consideration for their fellow man, then there would be an exponential increase in quality of life for all.

Think about it, when was the last time you did something for someone without looking for a reward? Or you helped someone out without being asked in the first place? Hmmmm? Be honest.

Smile. Open a door. Breathe, and stop and give a quiet answer the next time you feel like tearing your neighbour/spouse/customer/sibling/random driver on the road's head off. Take a little more time to do.........something, anything, better for someone, and don't look for thanks. Do it in the name of improving the universe. Send out the positive energy, let it spread out from you, and even though it will look like its been swallowed up by the universe, like a ripple, it is spreading beneath the surface, the forces are still at work, and believe me, it will come back to you. Just....be a better person, even for a minute or two, especially with a child or children, because they, of all else, have it the worst; they do not understand this mess they're born into, so they try, and get hurt, rebuffed, and suffer throught a cold, uncaring life to become the harsh, cold, uncaring adults that populate the world we all live in.

Take the time to brighten the universe, and to stop and think about who you are, where you're going, why you're going there, and if that is really where you want to end up. Trust me, such deep reflection one's own state and condition will never be a waste of time.

Lastly, you've heard this truism dozen times, but its still true (hence, its a truism. See, brilliant.) Smile, it'll make you feel better.

:)

More as it develops.